North Glenmore Development | Kelowna

Invitations to a public meeting are in the mail to 6,500 people who live around a major new proposed development site in the Glenmore Valley.

Troika Developments has plans for 435 homes in the first phase of a project on Diamond Mountain, which is east of Glenmore Road and south of John Hindle Drive.

“We’re working hard to create a new neighbourhood with a great mix of product types that will appeal to a wide variety of people.” company president Renee Wasylyk said Wednesday.

“I really believe Diamond Mountain could become like the Kitsilano of Kelowna, with a sort of edgy, very contemporary, highly walkable area that offers a lot of incredible outdoor amenities,” Wasylyk said.

A company-sponsored public meeting on the project will be help Aug. 5 from 7-9:30 p.m at the Ramada hotel. It’s open to all, but invitations are also being mailed to people who live near Diamond Mountain. “We want to be as informative and inclusive as possible about what we’re proposing to do,” Wasylyk said.

There was to have been a public meeting this past Tuesday at St. David’s Church on Snowsell Street, but it was cancelled due to a scheduling conflict at the church.

City council in 2012 instructed staff to begin working with Troika to begin developing an area structure plan for the development site, which covers about 200 acres.

The first phase of the plan’s preparation, city staffer James Moore said, covers such things as geotechnical analyses, infrastructure requirements and environmental concerns. The second phase goes into more detail, covering subjects such as the anticipated road network and likely building sites.

If ultimately approved by council, Diamond Mountain would have a variety of housing styles, including single-family homes with secondary suites, condos, and townhomes. It’s expected the neighbourhood would appeal particularly to people who work at nearby UBC Okanagan or the Kelowna Airport industrial area.

Should all approvals be received, Wasylyk said she expected construction on the first homes on Diamond Mountain could begin in late 2015. The name of the proposed neighbourhood derives from Diamond T Ranch, which is the name of the farming operation in the area run by Len and Marlene Tonn.